From The Ashes
by Zea-SSJ5
Summary: She's only 9 but knows well the word death. Her entire family is gone. She thinks she should carry on the legacy of her Dad & Grandpa but it only reminds her of them so she never does much with her life until a few simple words from him turns it around.
1. Prologue

I don't own DBZ, it belongs to the brilliant Akira Toriyama.  
  
From The Ashes  
  
Prologue...  
  
I saw her sitting on the couch hugging her knees tightly to her small body. She  
  
cried herself to sleep for the forth day in a row. She hadn't even spoke since I had to  
  
brake the news to her. "I knew she'd take it too hard, heck, she was only seven when the  
  
Galactic War broke out." Bulma thought to herself. First her Uncle Goten died. They told  
  
me a disease broke out that only effected a few and it effected him. Next her father died  
  
trying to kill the demon-like beasts. Next, Goku sacrificed himself to defeat the final  
  
beast, he went without hesitation. He vowed decades ago to protect all and so he did. Chi-  
  
Chi passed due to such heavy grief and Videl couldn't handle the pain of so much loss.  
  
One day when Pan was at school, she was still a happy little kid, a little ball of energy. I  
  
guess Videl never had the heart to tell her. Videl probably sat on the lonely floor of her  
  
house, a gun to her head. "Pan, I will always love you." Were her exact words as Pan told  
  
me she remembered. She had stepped into the house just as she said them. The a loud  
  
bang was heard and blood spattered over the floor and Videl fell back, dead before she hit  
  
the floor the doctors said. Her Grandpa Hurcule had died about a year before the war, of  
  
old age. She was left with no one. I walked over to her and picked her up in my arms and  
  
took her to the empty room she was using for the time being. As I laid her down I was  
  
stuck with an idea. I walked into the kitchen and saw Vegeta there. "Vegeta, I just had the  
  
best idea!" I exclaimed. He sat down. "Well, what is it woman." He said with I tint of  
  
anger in his voice. "What if we adopt Pan?" "What!?!?" "Well, yeah, I'd hate for her to  
  
be out in the world with strangers and I have a feeling that they'd want her with someone  
  
she knew." I knew Vegeta knew how Pan felt. Both of his parents were killed when he  
  
was young he told me. What could he say, he knew just what if was like, I was sure.  
  
"Whatever woman, just get it over with." He said as he stood and started up stairs,  
  
probably to get Trunks I thought. I ran after him and hugged him and kissed him on the  
  
cheek. "Thanks Vegeta." I told him as a sat back down.  
  
~~~~~(Vegeta's P.O.V.)~~~~~~  
  
I walked up stairs to get my brat for training but I seemed drawn to Pan's room. I  
  
stood in her door way as she slept, still curled into a little ball. Poor kid, I thought, I know  
  
just how you feel. I lost my parents too. It'll all work out, don't worry. I wouldn't let  
  
anything bad happen to Kakarot's brat. No way, she had a lot of potential. I turned from  
  
her room and walked off the get my son. I passed Bra in the hall. She stopped me.  
  
"Daddy, is Pan still sleeping? Why does she always cry now? Why won't she play with  
  
me? Is she still me friend?" she asked. "She's sleeping and of course sweetheart she's  
  
still your friend. She just very sad right now." I told her as a ran my fingers through her  
  
blue hair. "Oh, ok Daddy." She said as she ran off down stairs. I opened Trunks door and  
  
caught him off guard. "Come on. Time to train." I said as I tried to see what on Earth he  
  
was up too. I caught glimpse of the computer screen. Homework. "Sorry Dad. I got a lot  
  
of work." He said as he turned back to it. I just turned and left. I was drawn back to her  
  
room. She was awake now. "You ok?" I asked. She looked up and nodded. I walked over  
  
and sat next to her. "You know, it's ok to cry sometimes, it makes things better  
  
sometimes." I told her. "I know what your feeling, I lost my family young too." She  
  
looked at me unbelieving. She was probably thinking, this isn't the Vegeta I know. He'd  
  
never talk to he like he cared, he never talked much to anyone like he cared. I felt  
  
softhearted. I sighed and left her. Before I left I told her "Don't forget that ok." She  
  
nodded again and somewhat smiled but it didn't last long. It never did but it still felt good  
  
to see her smile every once in a while. I didn't notice that Bulma was standing right there  
  
hearing the whole thing. "Well, Vegeta, looks like you have a heart after all." She said  
  
with a slight laugh. "God woman do you have to sneak up on me like that!" I nearly  
  
yelled at her. "Oh, give it a rest Mister Saiyan Prince"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
So what do you think of the prologue? Isn't it sad. Now she's all alone. Well, next time Trunks has to tell her she's being adopted by his family and he's gonna be her big brother from now on. Lets hope that helps her feel better. 


	2. The Song

I don't own DBZ, it belongs to the brilliant Akira Toriyama and I don't own the song "From The Ashes" it belongs to Martina McBride... that reminds me. I want to see "Bride of Chucky" again!  
  
From The Ashes  
  
~~~~~~~(Trunks P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~  
  
I was sitting in the living room fighting over the remote with Bra again. God, for an  
  
8 year old kid she sure could throw one hell of a fit. "Give it back you big meany!" she  
  
yelled at me. "No way, it's 4:00 and Springer is comin' on so you have to leave." "No  
  
way. I'm watching Sponge Bob!" she retorted. "Mommy!" she wailed. She came running  
  
her lab. "What's wrong now!?!?" she asked. "Mommy," she said as she ran over and  
  
tugged on her pants leg. "Trunks won't let me watch Sponge Bob." "Trunks, you let your  
  
sister watch her show today. You picked what to watch yesterday." She said as she  
  
walked back to her work. Bra stuck her tongue out at me and snatched the remote out of  
  
my hand. "Trunks!" I heard my mom yell for me. I walked to the door of her lab and  
  
opened it. "What?" I called from the doorway. "I've got something for you to do." She  
  
said as she turned her chair in a 180 turn. "Yeah, what?" "Come here. Sit down. It might  
  
be hard to take in at first." "What is it complicated?" I asked as I walked over and sat in  
  
the nearest chair to her. "Were adopting Pan." She laid flat on me. "What?" "That's right.  
  
She has no one in the world now and I think it would be only right. I was very good  
  
friends of Goku and I think he'd want it this way. I want you to tell her." "What?" asked  
  
again, "How am I supposed to tell her we're gonna adopt her." "I don't know Trunks. I  
  
just know she looks up to you and it would probably be best if you told her." She looks  
  
up to me, I thought. "Fine." I said as I stood and left. Mom turned back to her work. "So,  
  
did you get in trouble or something?" Bra asked as I walked out the door. "Nope." "Well,  
  
what?" "I'll tell you later." I said as I walked past her. I walked to the kitchen and  
  
grabbed two sodas from the fridge and walked up stairs. Great, how am I gonna tell Pan  
  
I'm gonna be her big brother now? I came up to her door and looked in. She was laying  
  
with her head hanging off the edge of the bed with her face turning red with the blood  
  
rush. "Pan don't do that." I warned as I stepped inside. She sighed and dropped her hands  
  
near her head to the floor and flipped over and sat back on her bed. I tossed the soda to  
  
her and she caught is with out any effort at all. I sat next to her and listened to the song  
  
playing on her radio. We sat in silence just listening for a minute.  
  
"My right hand holds matches. My left holds my past. I hope the wind catches and burns it down fast. I'm gonna step into the fire with my failures and my shame and wave goodbye to yesterday as I dance among the flames."  
  
She spoke up. "You know what? Sometimes I want to wave goodbye to yesterday,  
  
you know, just forget what happened, but I can't. There's always that one thing there in  
  
my mind telling me there right here with me." "Really, like what?" I asked. "It's hard to  
  
say. It's like my grandpa and daddy's spirits are right next to me just keeping me  
  
company as a sit here." "That's nice." I said. I nearly forgot my mission up until then. My  
  
mom had just walked by and it got me thinking. Come on Trunks. Think of something to  
  
say damn it. "Trunks, you ok? It not like you to be quiet." She told me after I sat quiet for  
  
about two minutes. "Oh, I was just thinking." "'Bout what?" "Uh... it's hard to say but  
  
who about this. Pan what would you say if I were to be your big brother?" "I'd say I was  
  
the luckiest kid on Earth." She said letting out a seldom seen smile. "Really?" "Yep, sure  
  
would." "Well, if you want, I can be." "What do you mean?" "Well, uh... my mom said if  
  
you wanted we could be your family. We could adopt you if you wanted. How 'bout it?"  
  
I could tell she was thinking.  
  
"For all that I'm losin', much more will I gain. The hard part is choosin'."  
  
The song played in the background of the thought and at one time I thought it  
  
helped her choose. She nodded "I think, that would be nice." She said. I felt things would  
  
start looking up from then on out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well lucky Pan. She's getting a family and she even cracked a smile. Well next time it's a family trip but what they don't know is Pan has been there before and it'll bring up some memories 


	3. Memories

I don't own DBZ, it belongs to the brilliant Akira Toriyama. The name of the song used in the last chapter is "From The Ashes" It's by Martina McBride. Also I don't own the song "Love's The Only House" that I will use in this chapter. It is also by McBride.  
  
From The Ashes  
  
We were all packed. Pan, Bra, and me. We sat in the back and Mom and Dad sat up  
  
front. Mom was driving because well, Dad never got his license. He told my mom once  
  
"Woman, I refuse to take a human driving test. Saiyans have no use for human  
  
transportation." I smiled slightly at the memory. I leaned back into the soft cushion of the  
  
seat. The two kids slept by my side. I put on my Walkman and flipped threw the radio  
  
stations. One song caught my attention. I listened to it. (this is only the chorus and a little  
  
bit more)  
  
"Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in the world. Love's the only house big enough for all the pain. You drive three miles from all this prosperity down across the river and you see a ghetto there, and we got children walking around with guns, and they got knives, and drugs, and pain to spare."  
  
I sighed. I wonder if love's a big enough house for all Pan's pain? I hoped so. I  
  
started to drift into sleep. The colors outside of the windows blurred as a zonked out.  
  
~~~~~~~~(3 Hours Later)~~~~~~~~  
  
Mom shook us all awake. We stepped out of the car and looked around at the huge  
  
canyon below us. Well, welcome to the Grand Canyon!" my mom said as she looked  
  
down at us. Bra said "It looks pretty Mama." As she pointed to the sun smearing across  
  
the late sky. "So, are we camping or something?" I asked as I saw Bra and Pan yawn.  
  
"Yep." My dad said as he walked behind me. Pan sat down on the rocky ground with a  
  
few tears in her eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~(Pan's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~  
  
I let a few more tears fell from my tired eyes. Mama and Papa had brought me here  
  
once before. Everywhere I went there was something to remind me of them. Now, it was  
  
this sunset. Just before the war started we had come here and seen this same sun fall over  
  
these same rocks, but now it all seemed so different, so lonely over these rocks. I sighed  
  
and Trunks put his hand on my shoulder. Bulma had gone to lay Bra down in the car and  
  
Vegeta had flown off over the rocks somewhere. "Something wrong Pan?" he asked as he  
  
sat down next to me. I wiped the tears from my eyes. "It's just, Mama and Papa brought  
  
me here before the war when I was just a little kid and it brings bake memories of them is  
  
all." I said as I tried to straighten my face, trying not to look like such a baby in front of  
  
Trunks. I looked at him. Something in his face, his expression maybe reminded me of  
  
what Vegeta said to me. "You know, it's ok to cry sometimes, it makes things better  
  
sometimes." I cried then. He held me in his arms like I was still only a baby. I fell asleep  
  
crying in his arms. I guess I tried myself out but in my dreams I remembered that day,  
  
just like it was yesterday.  
  
~~~~~~~~(Pan's Dream - Narrative P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~  
  
They all stood looking over the beautiful sunset. The red sun smeared across the  
  
light purple and blue sky. She giggled a little as her father lifted her up onto his shoulder.  
  
Everything was perfect. She never thought it was all going to be taken from her but  
  
nothing like that would ever cross her mind until she was older. She was only four when  
  
she was there. Then the sky turned black and shapes of demons formed in the skies. Her  
  
father fought them. Her grandpa and uncle came and fought them to. Her mom sat in the  
  
air with a gun to her head "Pan, I will always love you." She said and pulled the trigger,  
  
over and over she saw them all die. It was a nightmare she had often, she was used to it  
  
but didn't like it all the same. It scared her more and more each time.  
  
~~~~~~~~~(Trunks P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~  
  
She jolted up next to me knocking my Walkman and turning it on.  
  
"Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in the world. Love's the only house big enough for all the pain."  
  
Played the same tune he had heard earlier. "Pan, you ok?" she shook her head and  
  
hugged her knees close to her small body and cried into her pajama's pants legs. I rubbed  
  
her back. "It's ok Pan, it's all gonna be ok." I kept telling her, what else could I say.  
  
"Love's gonna take away all your pain Pan, I'll make it better, I love you, remember that,  
  
always."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well, sorry I would have had this chapter up yesterday but my computer froze up and I had to re type the last half of this chapter. I'll try to have a new chapter up be tomorrow if I get the chance. Next time Vegeta trains Pan for the upcoming World Martial Arts Championship. 


	4. Training

I don't own DBZ, it belongs to the brilliant Akira Toriyama and I don't own Cocoa Pebbles. Sorry for the wait my readers but I've been swamped lately, plus I had to clean my room and it really sucked because when I started it looked like a hurricane Hugo disaster site.  
  
From The Ashes  
  
~~~~~~~~~(Vegeta's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~  
  
I glanced at the clock. It read 5:00 am. Time to get the brats up. The World Martial  
  
Arts Championship was coming up and I had to train my brat as well as Kakarotto's. I  
  
knocked on Trunks door and opened it to find him rubbing his tied eyes. "Get your ass up  
  
Brat, meet me in the Gravity Chamber." I said and turned from his door leaving him  
  
yawning and nodding his head. I walked to Pan's room next. I knocked a little quieter on  
  
her door. I opened it slowing to see her lying there still sleeping. So peaceful. I walked to  
  
her side and put my hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her. She woke up easily and  
  
rolled over to face me. She yawned and said, "Hello Vegeta." "Hey" I told her softly.  
  
"Come on, time to get up." I said. She rubbed her little eyes, black Saiyan eyes,  
  
Kakarotto's eyes. She sat up slowly and simply asked, "Why?" "The World Martial Arts  
  
Championship is coming up and I've got to get you in shape for it." "Ok." She told me.  
  
Her face lit up just a little. She kicked her feet off the side of the bed and dropped to the  
  
floor. She yawned again and opened the short little dresser by her bed. She reached in and  
  
pulled out a simple orange fighting gi. I swear I saw her cry just then in the dark. I felt  
  
really bad for her. I knew just how it was but I couldn't help her. I still don't know how I  
  
got through it all really. I started to think of my family on Vegeta. My dad the King died  
  
at the hands of the asshole Freiza and my mother died just after I was born. I bit my lower  
  
lip to hold back a single tear.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~(Pan's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~  
  
A couple tears rolled down my cheek as I held the fighting gi Grandpa had given  
  
me at the first tournament I had entered. It was a simple orange shirt with orange pants  
  
held up with a white belt. It was too small for me to wear now though. I sat it on the bed  
  
next to me and reached father back. I grabbed another fighting gi. It was one my mommy  
  
had made me just before she died. I cried a little more but wiped away my tears. It was  
  
nearly identical to what my grandpa used to wear. Orange gi with a blue belt and a blue  
  
shirt. I took off my clothes and slipped into it. Still tied I follow Vegeta to the door.  
  
Before I left I ran back leaving him to look after me. I snatched a pair of black shoes from  
  
beside my bed and slid them on my bare feet. He walked on down the hall and I ran after  
  
him. We met Trunks in the kitchen. He had his face in the fridge looking for some kinda  
  
breakfast. I walked over to him and tugged on his pants leg.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~(Trunks P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~  
  
I felt a tug at my pants leg and looked down half expecting Bra to be there. It was  
  
Pan! Why was she up this early? I stepped back a step and looked at her. "Good morning  
  
Trunks." She said a sleepy voice. "Good morning Pan. What are you doing up?" I asked  
  
having no noticed my father standing there. "Vegeta said it's time to train for the  
  
tournament." She said pointing behind her to Vegeta. I waved to him and grabbed the  
  
milk out of the fridge. "Want some cereal?" I asked grabbing two bowls knowing my dad  
  
didn't want any. She bobbed her head up and down and hopped into the nearest seat. I sat  
  
down our bowls and grabbed the Cocoa Pebbles. I poured our bowls full and dumped  
  
some milk on it. We ate quickly and went off to train.  
  
~~~~~~~~(Vegeta's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~  
  
~~~~~~~(In Gravity Chamber)~~~~~~~  
  
I looked over the two of the as I walked in behind them and flipped the lights on.  
  
They were ready to fight. They both stood in a fighter's stance. Pan stood in one that  
  
looked very similar to Goku's and Trunks stood in one all his own. "Ok," I said as I got  
  
into my stance, "first, defense training." And I lunged at the two and they started  
  
blocking.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ok, I'm not telling how the training goes but next time is the World Martial Arts Championship. 


End file.
